From Third Tier to...? Top 5%

I'll be top 5% and will grade on to law review. I have already made the moot court team. I have a full scholarship, right now, but transfer thoughts keep popping in my head. I love Cleveland and not having much debt.

Pros and cons...pros and cons...If I transfer, that's an extra 80k. C-M seems to place well in BIGLAW in Cleveland. If I keep it up, I could probably land one of those jobs. I also have a good financial support system here. I think I'll stay. Anyone else gonna call me crazy? Hopefully with an explanation?

I also have a great job this summer and have made many connections with attorneys at the prestigious firms here. Does a higher ranked school outweigh all of these benefits to anyone?

I'd recommend doing more research...staying at your school may be a good idea or it may not be.

At some T2 schools, some of the very top students strike out at OCI for whatever reason and do not find jobs before passing the bar.

The reason: there are too many law students out there and competition is fierce for the top jobs. Basically nothing is "guaranteed" at a lower ranked school even though many students from such schools do in fact do very well for themselves.

NEVER listen to anyone who isn't in law school yet and hasn't gone through the process of trying to find a job.

Talk to some students who've actually transferred and see what they have to say.

Thanks for the advice. I think your knock on the first replier to my post got insulted that you implied he knew nothing becasue he wasn't in law school yet. Note the lack of his post.

Anyway, I DID do much research. CSU owns Cleveland. Biglaw, too. Provided, of course, you are top 10%. But they don't own much else. There are only about 20 lawyers on Martindale who were admitted within the past 5 years who work outside of Ohio. Most of them had top grades but perhaps they knew someone.

That's my only hang up. I don't like the feeling of being tied down to one area but I don't fear not being able to get a job.

I am also unsure whether heading to a top law school would cause more stress. Even though the curve will be higher, it may be more difficult because everyone is smarter. I don't want to work harder. Plus, knowing how much debt I would be in would cause a slight panic. I would pretty much HAVE to do biglaw. I don't know how some people mosey through law school at the not so top of their class at a private tier 2-4, paying full tuition without a care in the world about their future job prospects.